If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

anyone know how long takes lesion to form?

Does anyone know how long it takes for a lesion to form?
I have a friend with MS who tells me she thinks I have it for sure. I didnt' realise when she told me that, that the doctors had been looking for it! THey never told me then.
But I have no lesions on my MRI and my LP normal. (? said it wasn't then said it was.... what goes on?) So she says you have to have an MRI while you're having an attack. I haven't seen that to be the case from what I've read. I haven't had any MRI with contrast and she says you need contrast. I'm not sure about that either.
But I thought I guess you could have MS for a while before the lesions are visible on the MRI?? Anyone know?

Lesions can be visible on the MRI whether or not they're active, so no, you don't need to have active lesions to find out you have MS. What contrast tells you is whether or not those lesions are active...
but, there are lesions that, for various reasons, don't show up on the MRI.

Does anyone know how long it takes for a lesion to form? ... But I thought I guess you could have MS for a while before the lesions are visible on the MRI?

I don't think you're asking about starting a stopwatch, releasing inflammatory cells and macrophages, and timing how long it takes them to get get to myelin and start chewing through it to form a lesion.

I'm interpreting your question to mean something like: How long does a person have MS before lesions start to form? or How long does a person have MS before lesions show up on MRI?

Those questions are impossible to answer because, with the current state of medical technology, it isn't possible to know the exact time when the "processes of MS" become active in people. To know how long something takes, there has to be an identifiable start time and end time. Right now, the first one isn't identifiable.

It might be possible that the first of those questions can be answered about EAE, the experimental animal model of MS, because the disease is actually induced and the start time [I]is[/I] known. At best, though, how that applies to humans with MS can only be inferred, because mice and dogs aren't human and EAE isn't MS.

As for what your friend told you about MRIs and lesions: false and false. I guess that goes to show that even people with MS don't fully know or understand about their own condition. And well-meaning as they are, those folks perpetuate the misinformation. It doesn't look as if she's going to be a reliable source for information for you...

To be fair she is a lot older than me and has had MS a long time so her thinking and some of the things she says.... I think her thinking ability is affected by her MS without wanting to sound rude. But she is a nice lady and very caring so I don't worry and I don't take what she says as gospel as alot of stuff she comes out with doesn't make a lot of sense and I guess that's part of her MS problem. She is positive and upbeat though. Lovely lady.

Yes I guess what I'm really asking is:
Could I have MS for some time before I have anything show up on an MRI? The doctor said to me: "You can't possibly have MS as it stands for multiple sclerosis or lesions. ANd you don't have any lesions on the MRI so no MS." He wasn't a nice guy. I had not said a word about MS so why he was telling me what I DIDN"T have I couldn't figure? I wanted to know what I DID have. Also I thought maybe it just means until something shows up on the MRI no one can say "You have MS." But it doesnt rule it out that your MRI is ok? ? ? Maybe they will show up in time - but how long. FIve years? More? Is it a possibility or does two clean MRI's spaced five years apart and two episodes during that time mean it must be something else and MS is just not a possibility? I realise I'm asking questions people might not be able to answer as we're not doctors.

But it's so frustrating when you know something is wrong with you. You're experiencing problems but no one else can see or feel them and so to them they don't exist. I feel they rely too much on machines such as MRI's to tell them stuff instead of listening to their patients.
Maybe I am just expecting doctors to do things for me that they just don't have the ability to do! It's frustrating

Is there anyone here that had clean MRI's for some long time before anything showed up?

*****post broken into paragraphs by a moderator for easier reading*****

You'll find some doctors want a HUGE sign (as in spots on the brain that light up like a christmas tree) and you'll also find doctors who'll treat you for what you're going through but watch you.

Finding that right doctor is whats the biggest step. Remember not all Neuros really "deal" with MS daily, therefore you should make sure that your doctor has/does.

As for the MRI.... I know I had a "spot" that's what they had been calling it to me but it was written as a lesion. I had a spot in my left back side of the brain, months later I had another spot in he right front side of my brain and months later after that I had another in the middle area.

The odd thing is the one near the back had faded (they had to really look to see it).... I didn't even know that could happen. But all the Lesions/spots caused me to have symptoms.

I hope that you can hang in there and find SOON peace of knowing What IS going on and get treated for whatever it may be.